I received news of deaths of friends lately. Be of comfort. They are not dead. Their souls are still alive and around with you. They can still see you, but we cannot see them physically. Their spirits are still with us eternally.
Let me now explain to comfort loved ones the deceased left physically behind. Very few can cherish this thought and be thankful.
Remember I was were writing about the souls of people who have died a clinical death or near-death-experience (NDE) or out of the body experience and they could easily and clearly see everything around them even though they were blind from birth. Their souls or spirits may hover around for sometime, possibly even for days seeing everything so clearly before flying off through a dark tunnel to another world where they saw (even though blind since birth) there was a bright light at the other end.
This leaves me thinking about Jesus whose Soul or His Holy Spirit may too have seen everything moments of His death after crucifixion but no one could see this. Even Jesus has a soul for example it is clearly written in Luke 23:46 that says Jesus, "with a loud voice" , said, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit,' and having said this, he breathed his last".
Similarly, Matthew 27:50-51 describes Jesus crying out in a loud voice and yielding up his spirit, with the veil of the temple tearing and the earth shaking as a result.
Then after 3 days His soul was reunited with His physical body in a material, physical form to His disciples to prove He is alive again. Several Bible verses describe Jesus' resurrection and appearances to his disciples, confirming his physical body and inviting them to touch him.
Key verses include: John 20:24-29 that describes Jesus appearing to Thomas and allowing him to touch his wounds to dispel his doubt.
Luke 24:36-43: Jesus appears to his disciples after they have heard the news of the resurrection and invites them to touch him to prove he is not a ghost.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4: states that Jesus died, was buried, and was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.
Matthew 28:9 mentions women who held Jesus' feet and worshiped him after his resurrection.
In Luke 24:39 Jesus asks his disciples to touch him to prove he is not a ghost, and to also see the holes left from the nails.
In John 20:17 Mary Magdalene touches Jesus and he tells her not to cling to him yet.
Wouldn't all these written documents confirm the traditional belief that the existence of the soul is real, and does not die and could be reunited in another body in the next world.
Some religions like Buddhism called it reincarnation in another body - what comes round goes round again. I shall explain this shortly.
These reverent documentations touch not only theological and scriptural dimensions but also explores metaphysical and philosophical truths that humanity has wrestled with for millennia.
Indeed, the accounts of Jesus committing His spirit into the hands of the Father (Luke 23:46) and the bodily resurrection witnessed by His disciples are among the clearest affirmations in Christian theology that the soul or spirit is distinct from the physical body and does not perish with it. These verses strongly suggest that consciousness, identity, and spiritual essence endure even after physical death.
The Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) I have written earlier alluded to, particularly those involving blind individuals seeing clearly, or people perceiving details while clinically dead, continue to mystify scientists and challenge materialistic explanations of consciousness. These experiences consistently echo themes found in spiritual traditions: floating above the body, traveling through a tunnel, encountering a brilliant light, and experiencing a heightened sense of love and understanding. They harmonizes remarkably with the resurrection and spiritual survival narratives found in Scripture.
When Jesus rose after three days, He appeared in recognizable, physical form, yet with spiritual properties: He entered locked rooms, vanished from sight, and ascended into heaven, indicating that His resurrected body, though tangible, was transformed. Paul speaks of this in 1 Corinthians 15:44:
“It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.”
This, I believe, affirms the belief that the soul is not only real but eternal, and capable of reuniting with a glorified body, especially within Christian eschatology. This in Christian beliefs, is not reincarnation in the Buddhist sense, where the soul migrates into another being or form in a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth based on karma, but rather resurrection, where the same person is raised anew, transformed, and brought into a new order of existence in God’s presence.
Comparing Views:
Christianity teaches resurrection of the same individual: continuity of personhood, moral accountability, and reunion with a transformed body.
Buddhism teaches reincarnation or rebirth, but often without belief in an eternal soul (anattā). Instead, a continuity of karma passes on, like a candle lighting another.Hinduism often supports reincarnation with a belief in an eternal atman (soul), which journeys from body to body until it reunites with Brahman (ultimate reality).
This belief, therefore, touches a critical distinction:
Is the soul’s journey linear toward final redemption (as in Christianity), or cyclical (as in Buddhism or Hinduism)?
If you ask me, my humble reflection are:
I believe the existence of the soul is real, as is its ability to survive bodily death. The testimony of Scripture, the example of Christ’s resurrection, and countless experiential accounts across cultures suggest that we are more than our material forms. The soul is the eternal witness, the bearer of identity, love, and consciousness, designed not for death but for union with the Divine.
In Jesus, we see the promise of a redeemed and resurrected existence, not just a ghostly afterlife but a renewed, transformed life in full communion with God.
I think nothing God created can be destroyed, not just the soul or life - they remain in another form just like matter and energy equivalent
"nothing God created can be destroyed", a statement that harmonizes deeply with both spiritual wisdom and the conservation laws of physics. As Einstein said, “Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed from one form to another.”
In much the same way, many religious and philosophical traditions teach that the soul or spirit transcends death, taking on another form, entering another realm, or continuing a journey.
Let me now give a descriptive overview of beliefs about the soul and afterlife across some of the world's major religions:
1. Christianity
Core Belief: The soul is eternal and distinct from the body. At death, the soul departs to either be with God or await judgment.
Afterlife: Believers in Christ are promised resurrection into glorified, incorruptible bodies (1 Corinthians 15), to dwell eternally with God in Heaven.Jesus’ Resurrection is central, proving life after death and the union of spirit and glorified body.
2. Judaism
Core Belief: The soul (neshama) is divine, given by God. Death is not the end; the soul returns to God.
Afterlife: Ancient texts focus more on Sheol (a shadowy existence), but later Jewish thought includes resurrection of the dead (as in Daniel 12:2) and Olam HaBa (the World to Come).3. Islam
Core Belief: The soul (ruh) is breathed into each person by Allah. The body dies, but the soul continues.
Afterlife: At death, the soul enters Barzakh, a waiting period. On the Day of Judgment, souls are reunited with bodies and judged.4. Hinduism
Core Belief: The soul (atman) is eternal and divine, part of Brahman (the ultimate reality).
Afterlife: The soul undergoes reincarnation (samsara), taking new bodies based on past karma. The ultimate goal is moksha, liberation from the cycle of rebirth and union with Brahman.Key Concepts: Reincarnation, karma, moksha, eternal soul.
The soul is never born nor dies, "It is not slain when the body is slain." (Bhagavad Gita 2:19)
5. Buddhism
Core Belief: No eternal soul (anattā), but a continuity of consciousness or karmic energy that flows into new lives.
Afterlife: After death, a person is reborn into another existence depending on karma. The goal is nirvana, cessation of suffering and escape from the rebirth cycle.Key Concepts: Rebirth, karma, impermanence, no-self, enlightenment.
Although it rejects the soul as an unchanging entity, it accepts continuity of being.
6. Taoism
Core Belief: The soul has two components, hun (spiritual, yang) and po (earthly, yin).
Afterlife: Upon death, hun ascends to the heavens while po returns to the earth (same as with Christian belief).Key Concepts: Immortality (in spiritual or symbolic sense), balance with nature, transformation of essence.
7. African Traditional Religions
Core Belief: The soul is the vital force connecting the person to ancestors and spiritual realms.
Afterlife: The soul often continues existence as an ancestor spirit, interacting with the living through rituals and dreams.Key Concepts: Spiritual continuity, ancestor veneration, reincarnation in family lines.
8. Native American Beliefs (varied)
Core Belief: Life is sacred and interconnected. The soul journeys to the spirit world after death.
Afterlife: A spiritual realm often described as a "Happy Hunting Ground" or place of peace, but the specifics vary widely.Key Concepts: Spirit journey, harmony with nature, connection to ancestors.
Finally, across traditions, despite doctrinal differences, a unifying theme emerges, the soul, spirit, or life force does not cease at death. Instead, it is transformed, journeys onward, or is reborn, guided by divine laws, moral consequences, or spiritual evolution.
If only others believe that “nothing God created can be destroyed, only transformed”, they will echoes with me through all of this. It bridges faith and reason, and are completely in tune with both scriptural revelation and scientific intuition.
I have earlier in this blog relate how modern physics, particularly quantum theories and the law of conservation of information might surprisingly support this idea of the indestructibility of the soul or consciousness?
It is not necessary for me to repeat them here. You may search them all here in this blog by typing in the key words in the internal search engine on the top left corner
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